Not knowing what I am singing

So, I have joined a choir. Not just any choir but "The First Bulgarian Choir," meaning the first choir established in Bulgaria to sing Western and Central European style classical music. We also sang a Christmas concert in "The First Bulgarian Chitalishte." Svishtov, as I've mentioned before is first in a lot of things, and Svishtovlia (the unofficial term for people who live here) like to remind me and each other of these first as often as humanly possible. Here is the recently and quite classily renovated interior audotorium in said "First Bulgarian Chitalishte."


The program consisted of mostly traditional English language carols translated into Bulgarian. The one exception was one verse of Jingle Bells, where the English words were transliterated into the Bulgarian alphabet. Luckily, I, like most Christmas celebrating Americans, had studied these lyrics extensively in my youth (AKA, I sang it over and over with my little friends). More exiting is that I will continue to be in the choir in the new year. I hope to make some new friends, and maybe improve my Bulgarian pronounciation with all that singing! I will keep my readers posted, of course!

I know you are jealous

...but I have what is unquestionable the coolest security door ever. It actually used to be on the door of another environmental NGO in town. My friend, Georgi, who works there actually made it!

Also FYI, the Bulgarian translation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" just came out. It is literally "Harry Potter and the Gifts of Death."

Visiting the neighbors

Last weekend, I baked the Swedish cardomom recipe that my family always makes at Chistmastime. I figured it would get me into the holiday spirit and I also baked enough to give some away.

On Monday evening, I knocked on the door of my elderly neighbors with a massive loaf in tow. They, of course, made a HUGE fuss and ushered me in to have dinner with them. Dinner was toast, with a variety of toppings to choose from. Special for me, was an addition of "ketchmak" or a sort of polenta-esque, but sweet Bulgarian cornmeal concoction served with walnuts on top. We had a long conversation, and I understood a fair ammount of it. They were very patient and helpful in helping me understand new words.

Just as we have all seen Americans shout slowly at non-English speakers in English, some Bulgarians do the same to me. This elderly couple didn't though. They seemed to assume that I am intellegent and capable of hearing normal speech, even if I don't have the language skills to prove it yet. I think they also are a bit lonely and isolated. The woman has trouble going down the 6 flights of stairs from the apartment, and so does not go out very often. Consequently, they both seemed really happy to have someone new to talk to.

Our conversation (or what I could understand of it) was pretty interesting. From what I could understand, they were both university educated here in Svishtov, where they met (love at first site, according to Mrs.). I got a thourough introduction to the history of Svishtov, which has proven to be an almost inexhaustible topic with most locals. In addition to being the first city to be freed from the Ottoman Empire and posessing the first Bulgarian chitalishte (community center) , apparently Svishtov was the location of the first piano in Bulgaria as well as the first western style ladies' hat (if I understood correctly), couretesy of trading partners upstream on the Danube. I also got to hear about the couple's travels to Kiev and Lenningrad (today St. Petersburg) with the erstwhile state run "BalkanTourist" travel agency. I even spooned sugar out of one of their souvenirs!

I've been thinking about them a lot over the past few days. Their whole world was turned upside down by the fall of Communism. They used to be middle class, vacation taking, souvenir buying people with jobs. Now they are living on what ammounts to a pittance of a pension and having toast for dinner in an old apartment with a broken elevator. So much of the development work going on in Bulgaria today has to do with building the skills and confidence of youth, which is extremely important work. I only hope that someone remembers the elderly, who are far too used to a system that rewards silence and compliance to speak up for themselves.

Feeding the Birds (a bit)

So, last week I took part in my first (drum roll please) educational activity with local school kids. We (two other BSPB-ers and myself) went to a biology classroom, where we made bird feeders with several classes worth of students. I was mostly an observer and sort of bopped around the classroom speaking cavewoman-esque Bulgarian to them. Right now my strategy building relationships with Bulgarians (including kids) is to attempt to make really lame jokes in Bulgarian, and then smile and appologize if they don't go over well. I employed this along with shaking my head yes* and smiling a lot.



So the lesson went like this. One of our superstar teenage volunteers presented how to make the feeders and why they are especially helpful during winter months. Students made the feeders out of plastic bottles they has brought, and put bird-seed in them. Sunflowers are a pretty major agricultural crop here, so sunflower seeds are a common snack (and sunflower oil, rather than olive oil the cooking/ salad oil of choice). The problem is the students brought snack sized bags of seeds....and mostly 1-2 litre bottles. So everyone had an inch or two of seeds in the bottoms of their bottles. Then we went to the forest nearby, where we hung the bird feeders. Kids were up in trees, running around and generally running amok, but we had a great time. The forest at the edge of town looks a little funny with all these nearly empty bottles hanging in it, but the kids got outside and are at least thinking about birds. I am lobbying for a spring clean-up to retrieve the bottles.

It was nice to meet some kiddos here in town. I have an interview this Tuesday with a 7th grade reporter from the school newspaper. I was actually recently interviewed for local television as well. I haven't seen the segment, but apparently everyone else in town has. It is a weird experience being interviewed in a language that you have only been speaking for 4 months! If I can get a copy of it, I will post it.

*A footnote for western readers. Nodding and shaking of one's head have opposite meanings of what we do in the west. I heard once that the gestures originated among Bulgarians during the days of the Ottoman Empire, seen as a dark period in Bulgarian history. The idea is that Bulgarians would nod their heads "no" in a secret gesture of defiance when talking to Ottoman officials, who read the gesture as "yes." I have not been able to verify this, but it would be a logical explanation.

Watching Birds Instead of Eating Them

I have been doing quite a bit of bird watching lately, which I am really enjoying. We are in the midst of a monitoring project for wild wintering geese. The flocks or literally thousands of geese are really very impressive. Our monitoring project focuses on counting the geese as they fly over (we count by 10's, or sometimes just plain estimate), noting locations and times that the flock settles to feed and searching for the endangered red breasted goose in the midst of mostly white-fronted geese. There are a number of larger greylag geese in the flock as well.

Here is a shot of my counterpart, Emil, looking for red-breasted geese amongst the flock last Satuday.

The goose monitoring is an important project, as it will help determine the management plan for this particular protected area. Counting birds, it turns out, is not quite as simple as one-two-three. The geese come in such thick numbers that the one by one approach is impossible. I usually count by 10's or so, but sometimes even that is difficult. Also, if we set up our equipment in one particular area, oftentimes the geese may decide to land in a different field from the expected one. "Ah, the geese have surprised us again!" says my counterpart.

Call me touchy feely, or a nature freak if you like, but I not-so-secretly enjoy when the geese are unpredictable. I draw great comfort from the fact that there are still wild creatures in this world who do not always behave as we expect or desire them to. I understand the importance of getting numbers for our study, but would be very sad if nature always "cooperated" with us. This morning, for example, we went to the field to attempt to look for red-breasted geese. As you can see from this photo of two of our young volunteers, the weather prohibitted looking at anything further away than about 20 meters.

Despite not being able to see, hearing the geese break the frosty silence as they flew low through the fog in ever increasing numbers was a truly magical experience. We stood there listening to the honking and even the swoosh of air through their wings. And every once in a while, we would catch a glimpse, if only for a few seconds.

Developments in my Culinary Experience and a New Friend

So, I had a small adventure today in the world of vegetable shopping. I bought what I ascertain to be a kolrabi (I have never bought one before, but have seen them), known here as "alabash." I was looking for carrots, which the next vegetable lady over had, but they were kind of sad and old looking. So, I decided to ask what this purple thing was.



Next thing I know, not only am I receiving a small vocabulary tutorial, but I am being coached on how to prepare the thing. Bulgarians do a number of cold vegetable salads, often involving shredding or mashing or chopping. I am a huge fan of said salads, and was greatly appreciative of this new addition to my bulgarka repetoire. The end result is my shredded kohlrabi salad, with a little parsley, vinegar, or the ever present salt and sunflower oil. It is pretty tasty!


Work is going along decently considering that I am floundering at best in the local language and still have much to learn about the organization. I am figuring things out slowly, and trying to envision how I will fit in this little branch of the organization for the next two years. I am also trying to establish an organizational routine, with to do lists and a calendar on my computer. This way I can not only keep myself organized, I can also keep track of things for the distantly, but ominously, looming quarterly reports for Peace Corps.


The non-profit (or NGO as is termed here, I think the US is the only place that uses the term "non-profit") world here is going through some pretty big changes with EU acession. I think that NGO's are expecting that they will more easily find funding, which may be true as the EU definitely funds a ton of projects. What my organization needs to realize though is that they are going to quickly become very small fish in a very big pond. In other words, jut because money is available for bird conservation, doesn't mean that it will go to BSPB. An idea for my stay here taht occurred this week is to work on transferring fundraising and PR skills.



My other non-work related news is The other news is that I am starting to befriend my wine lady. This is she, on the left, posing rather goofily for the camera. She is super friendly, so I stop by to visit her when it is dead at the store on the weekends. Another key is that she is willing to talk really slowly and repeat things a lot for me, which is pretty much a requirement for any possibility of friendship with a non-English speaking Bulgarian at this point. We were born in the same year, btu she is married with a little boy.

We have great fun running giggling across the street to the automated coffee machine, looking at wines and just sitting around, all the while, she attempts to help me understand more Bulgarian. Furthermore, we have at least two common vices (wine and coffee), always a great start to an aquantance!

Fall in Svishtov and the WAR ON CARROTS

So, I have been taking a few photos of my everyday routine lately. This is the outside of my soviet era blok. I live in what real-estate agents might term the "penthouse," of course neglecting to add that the elevator is broken. I don't mind a bit though, keeps me in shape without even trying!

Here is our walking park in the center. Isn't it pretty with all the fall colors?

I pass this flower stand every day. Flowers are something that this country does very well. Note the ODD numbers of blossoms in each bouquet. Even numbers are for funerals, and if given to the living are considered very insulting indeed (possibly the equivalent of saying "I wish you were dead"). The American boquet of a dozen roses would NOT work here!

Everyday, I eat lunch with my colleague in what is termed in literal tranlation a "fast kitchen." It sort of reminds me of a high school or college type cafeteria in America, but with more choices and ketchup isn't considered a vegetable. Also, the food is much nicer than what I remember from my high school days. Here is a typical lunch of bean and tomato soup and a roll. It costs 90 stotinki (about 75 cents)!

My living room, with my knitting project on the couch. My computer also serves as my music source at the moment. Finally, note the end table with the family photos and bowls made by my grandfather. It is sort of my mini-shrine to things I love most about the US!

So, I know that some of my readers may be cursious about the title of this blog entry. Upon my departure, my host family gave me about 2 kilos of peppers and maybe 3 of carrots. The peppers were easy enough to cut up and saute, although they are sort of a cullinary guessing game as the peppers are in no way sorted by spiciness. The carrots are another story. They are very tasty, but they are small, and require peeling! The surface area to volume ratio of these things were not in my favor, but after a few weeks of staring at them from across the kitchen I went to work on them last night. This was my trash can afterwards.

And this is my countertop...but notice the finished product of a shredded carrot salad, with additional carrots in a ziplock for later use on the right. By the way, Bulgarian style shredded carrot salad is spectacular in in simplicity. All that is needed is shredded carrots, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, a little wine-vinegar and some salad oil.

More old-ish photos...

So, these are all old-ish photos, as my batteries in my digital camera are currently dead. I promise, I will buy new ones soon and post tons of photos of Svishtov! Captions are below each one.

One of my bird boys catching a lizard during my site visit in September.

This photo and the two following show one of the top reasons why you need to come to Bulgaria, the Seven Rila Lakes.

Thomas contemplating the majesty of nature.

Rajun and I being goofy. Can't you almost feel the love emmanating from this one?

Nazi artifacts for sale at the trinket bazar in central Sofia. N.B. vintage Leica's with the Nazi seals on them and the luftwaffe helmets under the table.

Me with Max, one of my technical trainers during PST and my illustrious predecessor in Svishtov, about five minutes after I found out I was going to be his replacement. Don't we look like we could be related?

Why I love my site- a 1st week perspective

1. The walk from my apartment to work.

I walk through the center of town every day, past parks, students, vegetable and flower stands and great window shopping. Plus, I get exercise without even trying and arrive to work in a great mood.



2. My view from my apartment. Good morning Romania!

3. I found a place where I can drink a Guiness.

Mind you, it is not on tap, nor even in the prefereable can packaging and costs 4 leva per American sized bottle. To add context for my American readers, Bulgarian beer comes in a half litre bottle and costs about 1.5 leva. For just one, only once in a blue moon, it is worth every last stotinki.

4. Science Nerds RULE

I almost feel guilty for how cool my PC assignment is. We should have hardships, difficult work circumstances and an assignment that might not be fun, but will make the world a better place, right? So far, my work has consisted of getting up to speed on local conservation issues, asking science questions, the occasional bird watching break and reading scientific literature, without having to annotate it! Yes, I realize that I am a superdork for proclaiming this, but this RULES.

More to come...

By popular demand...PHOTOS!

Rajun and I dancing horo at a sabor (town holiday) near our training site. Unknown Bulgarian woman between us. I chose this photo because in all the other photos from that day, I look totally befuddled by the dancing, in contrast to Rajun who looks ready to join a traditional dance troupe.


An awesomely huge meadow with mysterious fog coming down from the Seven Rila Lakes. Notice the people about to disappear!


Some members of my host family and I at Rila Monastary. Eli (mother), Vasco (father) and Maria ( their 11 year old daughter, aka, Mime)



My kitchen in Svishtov! I've already cooked spaghetti and meatballs and potato leek soup in it so far.

Our students who designed signs for the ecopath, with their signs getting ready to hike on a drizzly Saturday.

My training site mates and I on our visit to Sofia during the second to last week of PST. From left to right: Me, Thomas, Rajun and Chase with the umbrella.

Home Sveet Svishtov

Today was my first day of work in my new organization. As a first day, it really isn't much of a day for accomplishments, but I spent time familiarizing myself with the organization, thinking about project ideas, and researching bird conservation online. All in all, it will be work that will pay off later, I think. Information gathering never really feels like an accomplishment, but in environmental work, uninformed action can be disastrous!

So, I will have the pleasure of cooking my very own dinner this evening. While I have greatly enjoyed the cooking of my host family, I have been itching for some of my own cooking. I, taking after my mother, am an immodest fan of my own culinary skills. I was further encouraged in my zeal for my own cooking by the unearthing of some long-ago packed kitchen gadgets from my winter luggage (most importantly, my microplane). I have already scoped out a purveyor of kitchen gadgets (one of my favorite types of retailers), and will be buying my stove-top espresso maker post-haste!

Otherwise, this weekend I will be exploring my new city and beginning to settle in. I think that I may attend an event put on by Japanese volunteers tomorrow, rumor has it there will be Japanese food!

I must be hungry with all this talk about food. I'd better get going in order to remedy that!

Small Community Project

So, we implemented the first half of our small scale community project today. We got a pack of 6th graders together and had then paint signs for a local eco-trail. They mostly have some sort of conservation message on them, such as don't step on the flowers. Tomorrow, we will nail them up for the edification and enjoyment of passing hikers.

The hike tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least. We will be carrying these signs for quite a while, in addition to hammers, nails, food and possibly other things that our 6th graders don't feel like carrying. Again, photos of both events will be posted as soon as my technological situation improves at my permanent site!

Anticipating Svishtov!

So, in just over one week, I will be in Svishtov. Not that I am counting or anything, or more accurately, I don't have the bus schedule yet so I don't know the exact hour of my arrival yet.

Peace Corps, as hierarchical and beaureucratic as it may seem to some, actually knows a thing or two about training. As I said in my final interview with our administrative officer today, I feel adaquately prepared for everything except the things for which one can't prepare. Also the timing of the end of PST couldn't be more perfect. It is short enough so that we don't completely burn out by the end (operative word: "completely," it's supposed to be hard). It is also long enough that most of us are chomping at the bit to get to our sites by the end.

I have a thousand and one ideas for projects at this point (ok, maybe less than that), but I think that the best thing is for me to simply be an extra set of hands at first when I arrive. After I earn some "street cred" (would flyway cred be more appropriate here?), then I will be in a better position to supply project ideas.*

*PC staff, if you are reading this, aren't you proud of my internalization of the Peace Corps' approach to development work?

In praise of Bulgarian DIY

So, in America we are really into homemade things. We buy magazines whose articles describe how to fashion jar lids into chic and environmentally correct sleeper sofas. We snap up homemade lingonberry preserve at craft fairs, and are willing to pay prices that might indicate that there is gold in the center of each. And we have a whole industry of ready made foods that we can pop into our ovens for that homemade taste.

Anyone notice anything here? There are some notable American exceptions; my mother's cooking, my grandmother's sewing and my grandfather's amazing woodwork comes to mind. For the most part though, Americans love the idea of homemade, but don't actually make much at home.

So in Bulgaria, they actually make pretty much everything at home. My family is in the process of harvesting grapes to make the homemade brandy or "rakia." They also made wine this weekend. When they needed a large outdoor table this summer for a party, they built one, just the right size, right in place. They darn socks, make preserves, bake bread, and make cheese from the goats that they milked. They also build their own houses (mostly out of bricks and concrete), pour their own driveways, and put up their own fences.

Also it seems that Bulgarians are much more spontaneous that Americans. It means that sometimes you end up having a wonderful adventure that no one really planned, or sometimes an immaculately tiled wall must be broken through to fix the plumbing that was thought of after the completion of the wall.

It is definitely different. And I like it! (Although, don't worry, I still think America has its finer qualities too!)

I can hardly keep up with myself!

So, dear readers, I've been a bit busy as of late. Last weekend I went on an overnight hike to the Seven Rila Lakes in the Rila mountains. I went with a Peace Corps group, which was fun even though I never thought that a hike with 50 people could be fun. The lakes are high in the Rila Mountains, and lovely enough to be a spiritual experience. Even after so much walking, I felt refreshed and happy at the end. I have a ton of photos, and will post them when my technological situation permits.

On Monday my training group met with one of the vice-mayors of the municipality for dinner and talk of our community project. She is extremely supportive of our project (installing educational signs on a local eco-trail with help from local youth), and even managed to score free supplies for us.

In Tuesday we met with teachers and students to talk about the project and environmental ethics. Our educational focus with them is how to protect nature while enjoying its beauty.

On Wednesday we traveled to our hub-site to have (...drum roll please...) more meetings! Actually most of the meetings are important (Peace Corps staff, if you are reading, the exceptions should be made clear on my evaluation forms), and some are actually interesting and informative. Even so, at this point in my training, I am beginning to tire of them. I suppose that is the nature of this beast we call training; it is supposed to be hard, and I'd likely gripe about it being too easy if it wasn't.

As much as I feel ready to be finished with training, I must admit that it is working. I am now able to have a conversation in Bulgarian, even if it is a bit elementary and my conversation partner helps correct my pronunciation! Another landmark: I am starting to understand silly advertising slogans on billboards. I know they are pretty much the least advanced form of the written language in any culture, but it is much more than I understood even a short time ago (baby steps here folks!).

On Thursday (after more meetings in the morning), I traveled with my friend Will to visit a currently serving volunteer named Shane in Stara Zagora. It was nice to meet other volunteers (its a bigger city and so we met another PCV who is done and about to be on his way back to America-COS-ing in PC-speak) and hear their perspectives. It made me even more pumped to get to know people in my permanent site and start my work!

On Friday we visited a bird rehabilitation center and environmental NGO where Shane works, and asked him about environmental work in Bulgaria. The organization that he works for, called Green Balkans, does some great work. The bird rehabilitation facility is remarkable. Many important, rare or endangered species live there. They have even had successes with captive breeding and releases, which is not easy to do. Apparently though, my future organization (the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds) and Green Balkans have a somewhat tense relationship. I'm not sure of the history of the spat, nor would I dare to speculate in a such a public forum. So far I respect both organizations and their work. There are some examples of the two organizations cooperating; let's hope they increase in the future. In my book, there is no such thing as doing too much conservation work.

Now, after several hours on three different buses, I am back in my training site. After that week, venturing to coffee with a friend or doing a little homework will be the extent of my day tomorrow!

Dog Guilt

I have made friends with a stray dog in town. I first met him one evening a few weeks ago when I was walking home. I was strolling along in the not-too-fast-not-too-slow manner that is the custom here when I the shadow of a wagging tail behind mine. I turned around to investigate and outstretched my hand to introduce myself to a dignified and unassuming but definitely dirty dog. He was a mutt-ish wiry black with white whiskers. As I was walking along he licked a snack wrapper and drank from a puddle, but followed me to my neighborhood.

At the entrance to my neighborhood, a pack of the neighborhood dogs chased him away. I have since seen him dodging cars and sniffing around for food. He sometimes follows me; I think he can sense that I am a dog person, even though I never feed him. Bulgarians will kick and shout at stray dogs, but my heart is never in it when I attempt to do the same. It is more of a foot nudge. He followed me all the way home today, only to be chased away by Rexi, the dog of the house (he takes his duty of defending us from canine intruders very seriously).

In America we romanticize stray dogs, happily adopt them from no-kill shelters, and maybe even hope that one will ever so meekly follow us home. Here bony, flea-bitten stray dogs are common with nary a dogcatcher in sight. There is no way for me to adopt this dog while I live with my host family, and even to adopt another stray when I get to Svishtov would be wildly irresponsible considering my eventual departure. Still, I feel a little twinge of "dog guilt" when I see my stray.

Reason #53 why my host grandfather rules

My host grandfather is retired, but definitely keeps active during the day. Today, for example, I came home for lunch and he has just come back from a 2 hour walk in the forest, in the rain, to gather mushrooms. And gather mushrooms he did! They were mega-portabella sized monsters. I truly hope we have some sort of mushroom themed dish this evening for supper.

My host family has been extremely helpful in my language learning. They are always speaking to me, whether I understand or not. Wierdly enough I am starting to understand them (My language trainer's tutalge is helping, I'm sure). Last night we has a dicussion about Bulgarian history, a rather elementary one, but still much more that I would have though possible at this point.

They also just genrally dote on me. My host sister painted my fingernails last night, and today before I purchased my umbrella we passed on the street and she offered me hers. Pretty selfless for an 11 year old. My host grandfather always makes sure that I have something to eat when I come home for lunch. He usually doesn't cook for me, but in a culture where gender roles are much more traditional that what I am used to, it means a lot that he did once!

Flitting around in Svishtov

My permanent site pretty much rules. Svishtov, the town where I will live is a small university city. It has friendly people, an amazing history and my organization (the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds) is great.

I arrived in Svishtov on Wednesday afternoon, and then promptly had a "pochifka" (bulgarian for nap, vacation, time out, weekend, etc, from what I can gather). Then I met up with my counterpart (Emil) and went to a local establishment for dinner and to watch the Bulgaria-Luxenburg football (think European) match. Luckily, BG won. I will have to introduce my new Bulgarian friends to Big Papi and the other patron saints of Red Sox Nation.

My apartment, which I stayed in, is pretty classy for a 6th story walk up. It is definitely worth the walk, as I have a lovely view of the Danube River, lots of light, a sweet kitchen and, as a super bonus, a living room with a pretty stylish red faux-fur decorating scheme (not sarcastic, when I am able to post pictures you will see). A previous volunteer (who is actually one of my trainers now) lived there and pimped it out pretty well.

Thursday, I went to the office to read up on the English website. It looks like I will be helping implement some of the conservation activities, as well as working on environmental education, and possibly some international partnerships with other birding organizations (ex: the Romanian Ornithological Society). Luckily the EU recognizes that birds and wildlife don't particularly adhere to borders. I also met more friends and volunteers for the organization (AKA the Bird Boys), mostly teenage boys with a bent for birds and natural history. I also met my land lady, who sat me down for cake and coffee and promptly inquired about my love life, my tastes in food, my family in America, etc. Oh, and furthermore according to her, I must be 17 and not 27 because I am so pretty.

After that, I met my site mate who teaches English. We went for a walk around with a Bulgarian friend (Tiso, not sure of the spelling in either the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet here) to see a giant sundial on the top of a hill; you stand in the middle on a spot determined by what month it is and your shadow reveals the time. Later, we met up with Emil and went to see the Roman ruins near town, as well a memorial to the Russian soldiers who crossed the Danube first at Svishtov during the Russo-Turkish war. Svishtov was the first free city in Bulgaria (the Russians set Bulgaria free from the Ottoman Empire), a fact of which Svishtovians are extremely proud.

Finally to cap off the night we went to a concert at the sundial. The performers were these international musicians who were traveling down the Danube by boat with a bunch of French tourists (with whom I spoke some pretty broken French at a restaurant when they were confused by the Cyrillic Menu. It was pretty heinous, I kept putting Bulgarian words into French sentences, but at least they knew they were ordering spaghetti). There were musicians from: Albania, Morocco, Romania, Algeria, Spain, Italy, France, Cameroon and more countries that I don't remember. The opening act was a local folk-dance troupe, followed by a collaboration of the international musicians with a local choir. They sang a heavily accented, but enthusiastic version of, "When the Saints Go Marching In," which was an extremely surreal moment for me to hear a pretty quintessentially American tune with nary an American in sight.

The next day we met at the office early with two bird boys and headed to the field to install nest boxes for the European Rollers, an endangered species here. We pretty much just sent boys up trees on a ladder with the boxes and a bunch of nails and they hammered away. At first, they being guys, they didn't want me to help carry the ladder, but I didn't listen to them and helped anyways. While I didn't hammer at any of the nest-boxes, I became the GPS lady to mark each box site. Ten nest-boxes and a fashionably leisurely lunch break later, I felt like one of the dudes. I am pretty psyched for more field work, I must admit.

I am now back in my training site. My host family greeted me with hugs and kisses and food and drink and a zillion questions about my new site. I am feeling torn now between wanting to prolong my wonderfully traditional rural experience with my host family who I adore and moving on to do work that I am really exited about about in a gem of a small city (aka "The Pearl of the Danube.")

Bird Nerd Alert!

So, this will be brief. I am currently visiting my permanent site, which is a small city on the Danube River. I can see Romania from my apartment.

I have been placed with an environmental NGO that focuses on bird conservation. I will be getting to do field work, as well as work on outreach and education. I must say that I am beyond pumped to assume my life as a bird nerd. More later, dear readers!

An eventful Saturday

Yesterday I woke up thinking that I might eventually meander to the town celebration. My host family had other plans. We ended up going to Rila monastery, the biggest and most famous monastery in Bulgaria. So, my host dad drove me, my host mom and my host sister there. When we arrived, there was a service underway in the monastery church.

We went in for the service, which involves lots of chanting, incense, and blessing of the congregation by the priest. There are also parts of the service that are performed behind a screen in the front of the church, called the iconostasis, I believe. In any case, this is where the altar is located. The congregation stands, and crosses itself at appropriate junctures in the service (which seems to be rather frequent). Orthodox Christians cross themselves opposite the way that Catholics and Anglicans do, (forehead, stomach, right, left rather than left than right) and they also almost always cross themselves three times in a row. We also lit candles, a bit part of Orthodox liturgy. At the end of the service the congregation was allowed to come to the front of the church to venerate the icons, which involves kissing them, placing coins on them, crossing ones self, leaving small offerings of clothing (my host dad left socks I think) or simply touching them. It is up to the individual pilgrim. We also saw the bones of a saint. I am really glad that I got to go to the monastery with a Bulgarian family. I got to experience it from more of an insiders perspective rather than as a tourist.

Afterwards, I got to look around in the monastery courtyard, buy post cards and check out some of the artwork. The artwork is mostly in the form of frescoes on the walls. My favorite was a huge series of panels where angels and demons were duking it out. I was able to photograph some of it and will certainly post it when I am able to figure out the logistics of doing so. Then my host family bought bread from a bakery nearby, which is apparently pretty famous in Bulgaria. It is all handmade (and delicious).

After our return, I went downtown to meet with friends and mosey over to the village sabora (an annual celebration). Sabora was held outside with music and the ever present grilled meat stand. The main event of sabora is the preparation of a MONSTROUS amount of a soup called courban. Basically they slaughter a goat or lamb (or several from what I saw) and boil the meat in huge cauldrons over an open fire. Peppers, onions, tomatoes and spices are also added. When the soup is ready, the village priest says a prayer over it and sprinkles holy water over each cauldron (in this case about 25 cauldrons) and the people. Homemade bread is also blessed with holy water. After that, the attendees circle around the cauldrons with buckets, the corban is ladled into them and everyone takes it home with them. All the grandmothers (aka babas) distribute their blessed bread too. The idea (I think) is to bless the health of the community.

Basically, I experienced a lot of Orthodox Christian customs yesterday. It is so different from anything I have ever seen in terms of religion (even in terms of Christianity). I still have a lot to learn about this part of the culture, and to think, I haven't even seen any of the Muslim traditions yet!

Update on PC stuff

Whilst I have been spinning yarns of everyday life in rural Bulgaria, the process of my training and SITE SELECTION have been in the works. So, in addition to language training, we also have technical training, which is on the job type stuff. We've been learning about the culture of NGO's, the local government and people in general. It seems that a big source of misunderstanding in Bulgaria is the transition from the traditionally very hierarchical government and compliant populace to the new transparent and egalitarian EU member government with an actively participating populace. We have also been brushing up on community based project management and implementation with trainings, and the design of a project at our training site. We are still designing our project; I will post more on it when we have it nailed down.

Last week, I had an interview with the Community and Organizational Development (COD) staff, as the environmental education program is small here and housed in the COD department. Even though it initially seemed weird, it makes sense that the environment program be housed in COD, as many economic opportunities in Bulgaria are linked to sustainable ecotourism. Also, the COD staff are ROCKSTARS, and I feel fortunate to have them as bosses. In my interview, they indicated that I will likely be working in either a national park or a bird conservation NGO. I am quite happy with either prospect as they will involve being getting to learn about local natural history, field work, environmental education in its myriad forms (guided hikes, classroom presentations, fielding questions, etc.), work on building partnerships, publicity and more. Basically, I will never be bored!

I find out my placement on Monday, get to meet my counterpart (Peace Corps lingo for the Bulgarian person I will be working with) shortly thereafter, and then on Wednesday will be traveling to my permanent site for a few day visit. YOWSERS, am I pumped!

Canning Bonanza

I thought I'd devote a bit of blog space to canning, which is currently a major activity in rural Bulgaria. Many fresh vegetables are just not available period here in the winter time (unlike the U.S. where you can always get tomatoes, even if they are overpriced, mealy and flavorless in January). In fact, I've heard that in some remote villages they simply run out of things as basic as potatoes in late winter. Of course there are commercially canned items available for purchase (which I will likely become all to familiar with when I move out to my permanent site in October), but my host family seems to be very proud of THEIR homemade items (with good reason).

My host family has a very productive garden and some fruit trees as well. They keep any glass jar that they buy at the store, for use in canning. They have a large canning "cauldron" in the back yard that they light a fire under to boil the jars. The canning cauldron is located next to the rakia still which deserves its own entry. Canned items so far include: tomatoes with parsley, "compote" which is large chunks of fruit with simple syrup and "lutenitsa" a BG version of ketchup that included peppers and carrots as well as tomato (I'm a huge fan). All the adults helped out, turning their outdoor kitchen into a small scale factory.

In general household chores here are much more time consuming. It also seems to be a point of pride among Bulgarian (particularly rural BG) homemakers. For example, the wash cannot simply be hung; in our region of Bulgaria, the wash is hung sorted by size AND color. Or furthermore, my host mother baked a cake today. It had two layers (one vanilla, one chocolate) which she then cut and switched into bulls eye patterns to create and alternating checker pattern when the cake was cut. She poured simple syrup over the cake to soak in, topped it with homemade butter cream frosting, sprinkles and thinly sliced peach wedges. I assumed the cake might be for a party, but no, it was dessert for lunch, cut into literally minutes after it was finished!

A day in the life...

So, some people may be wondering just what it is that I do during training. Most of my training day is taken up with language class (3 hours) with our Bulgarian language trainer. She is fantastic, and I have come a long way in a short time under her able tutelage. Not to give the impression that I am suddenly rattling off philosophical treatises in Bulgarian, but I can order food, ask what work someone does, ask for directions, introduce myself, express appreciation and ask some basic questions! I am far from fluent, but am slowly but surely learning new things everyday.

My training group especially likes games in class. For example, today we played a board game that required a different language related task on each square that our piece landed on. We are also big fans of throwing a ball around while conjugating verbs. I think the games are good because they force us to think quickly.

We also usually have something to do in the afternoon, related to another assignment. For example, we met with the police inspector of our town (who also happens to be my host dad), are planning a community meeting, are working on "cultural passports" that help us to learn about Bulgarian culture and often have other papers or group projects to work on.

Afterwards, I head home for the evening. I spend time with my host family at night, which helps A TON with the language. I also spend some time either emailing, blogging or reading by myself. Having a completely new lifestyle in a new culture takes some adjustment and I find that giving myself some time to relax helps in this process immensely.

The Tiny Dig

So, here in my training village they seem to have come by some money for infrastructure improvements. There are road resurfacing projects, a recent renovation of the town square, and bilingual signs at points of interest with EU and BG decals on them. I ascertain that many of these projects are funded with EU monies. The most relevant project to my immediate situation is what I like to call the tiny dig (non- Bostonians, ask a Bostonian).

They are putting in new water pipes in my neighborhood. This is exiting not only because the water will be more reliable and pure in my 'hood, but also because I get to find a new hole in a different place everyday. There is a large digging machine, but I am also seeing shirtless male neighborhood residents (Old guys, people! Don't get the wrong idea!) digging to the connecting valves to their houses. Furthermore, since my neighborhood is not paved, all that has to be done after the pipe is laid, is filling in the hole. Really quite efficient by large American public works project standards.

The hole digging really adds interest (rather than inconvenience) to my daily commute, which I have come to enjoy. I live maybe a mile away from the language training center, so I get plenty of exercise (especially if I walk home for lunch, which I often do). I am beginning to figure out which people I will see at which places and at which times of day, which is nice. I am really enjoying the pace of life here and am even beginning to walk more slowly.

Yes, blogosphere, I am alive

I am in Bulgaria and have been with my host family for about one week. I am still only speaking baby Bulgarian. My host family repeats things a lot for me, and I have rediscovered my talent for pantomiming, so everyone is understood eventually.

So, I have other previously type blog entries on my computer. Unfortunately, I am having some technical difficulties with my flash drive. I have heard that sometimes BG computers fry them, which is what I suspect has happened to mine. I will try to get a new one in order to post my old entries and PICTURES of course. I am taking them, just having trouble posting them.

I think the new highlight of my life (aside from living in a foreign country, learning a new language and getting to know one of the kindest families on earth) is milking the two family goats. I have only done it twice so far, so I am still slow at it. I am learning though! My host family finds the sight of a city slicker American gal studiously milking (albeit with some aim issues) extremely entertaining, and I am happy to oblige them.

Last Day in MA

Tomorrow, bright and early, I set out to Philadephia to meet up with my Peace Corps cohort. It seems that we will have a series of meetings regarding everything we ever wanted to know and more about Peace Corps policy and regulations, perhaps some pokes from various vaccination needles and a distribution of passports (I will have both a normal US passport and a special government one; it makes me feel like I am in a spy movie) and airplane tickets. It has seemed recently that I was approaching an event horizon on the outskirts of the black hole of moving abroad from which no shard of my identity would escape; happily, the feeling has become akin to the anticipation of my first big road trip in my recently sold VW golf.

I had a wonderful New England summer supper this evening with my parents and my grandfather: swordfish, corn and grilled tomatoes with rasperries and blueberries with some ice cream for dessert. The corn, tomatoes and raspberries were all grown within 10 miles of my parents' house. I can't think of a supper that more encapsulates early August in coastal Massachusetts. I have been eating fish (and mussels and clams and calamari!) at every opportunity, as I understand that, sadly, the Black Sea is rather polluted.

I have been enjoying the ocean this summer summer. I have been going to the beach a lot (just a quick bike ride away), including a quick last dip today. Yesterday, my mother and I went on a kayaking adventure (meaning I paddled, and my mother told me where I should paddle) on the tidal inlet that my parents live on. See below, picture of my mother (and my toes) in the bow of the kayak.

My Recent History

I will keep this brief. Blogging is new to me; I'm not naturally inclined towards journaling or publishing overly personal details of my life on the internet particularly. Do people read this stuff? I suppose I'll find out.

Onwards! Towards summarizing my activities of the past year. I graduated from my masters program in environmental education at the University of Wyoming/ the Teton Science School last year. I moved to Steamboat Springs, CO where I worked as a paraprofessional at the Middle School. I ended up taking a job as a math teacher as an emergency hire at Steamboat Springs High School in November of 2006. It was a very educational experience to be a first year teacher in a subject that was not my major (my major was geology)! It was exhausting, but a great learning opportunity!

Luckily, teachers get summmer vacation (a teacher friend listed the top three benefits of a teaching career as: June, July and August). I have been visiting my family in Massachusetts for the past month or so, with some side trips (see photo: a hike in New Hampshire with my father). Currently, I am pretty consumed with packing, running errands, eating as much New England seafood as I can (grilled vegetables, then pasta with mussels last night!), saying goodbyes to family and friends and organizing a formidable ammmount of paperwork.

The inagural posting

I have started this blog as a way to collect my thoughts and update friends and family as I travel to Bulgaria to serve in the Peace Corps. I am joining the Peace Corps as a way to learn more about other cultures and to sate my save the world complex.